Workwear Brand Boosts Forecast Accuracy by 29%
Challenge
Workwear brand Williamson-Dickie was transitioning from a manufacturing-driven organisation to a market-driven company and moving some of its manufacturing operations outside of the United States to take advantage of lower production costs.
As well as moving manufacturing locations, the company was also expanding its distribution channels. It needed to streamline its sales and operations planning (S&OP) processes to support better management of its increasingly complex supply chain.
Solution
By implementing Logility, Williamson-Dickie could improve the way it forecast its business. It no longer needs to use outdated spreadsheet-based forecasting techniques, as the Logility digital supply chain planning platform allows for greater visibility across the business.
The platform helps the brand achieve more effective inventory planning using the information it imports from its ERP system. Based on sales forecasts, historical data and statistical forecasts generated by Logility, the company can reach a consensus on what the forecast should be. Those figures are then loaded into the ERP and form the basis of the S&OP meetings.
Impact
Within just four months of going live with Logility, Williamson-Dickie had reduced its forecast error rate by 15% and forecast accuracy had risen by 29%. Fill rates were up from 70% to 90%.
Implementing Logility has been key to reducing lead times at both domestic and overseas factories. The platform enabled Williamson-Dickie to shrink lead times from 50 days to just 15 days at domestic factories, and from 90 days to up to 45 days for global sourcing partners. As a result, reducing lead times has led to an 18% increase in inventory turns.
